Generation online e-commerce and networking system for transforming traditional non-group-based and non-role-based logical access into a group-based and role-based access security mechanism to protect user data privacy and generate more online traffic

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and programs are provided for facilitating group-based and role-based logical access security mechanism and community funds on a new generation online social networking and e-commerce system to effectively protect user data privacy, to increase online advertising results, and to significantly increase online traffic and online purchasing volume. These are revolutionary technologies to disrupt the traditional non-group and non-role based logical access of a traditional social networking or e-commerce website, so as to enhance data privacy, to pool resources, to dramatically increase Internet usage and to create a win-win situation for all parties involved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/460,488, filed on Jul. 20, 2009, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of Invention

The present art relates to an online e-commerce and networking systemwith user joint online purchasing, joint wish fulfillment, user dynamicinteraction, and user participatory online advertisements thateffectively stimulates more e-commerce activities, adds additionalvalues to users and enables advertisers to better monetize the onlinecommunities.

Description of Related Art

As reported by the news media, current social networking sites aresuccessful in attracting users to use their social networking servicesto share information with others, but do not effectively monetize theironline communities. Current social networking sites have little or noprofit since their inception more than five years ago. These websitesgenerate revenues largely from online advertisements, which receive poorresponse rates from their users. Only four in 10,000 people click onadvertisements on social networking sites, compared with 20 in 10,000across the web.

The reasons for the low click through rate for social networking sitesare that: 1) users are interested in socializing with friends on thesesites and they ignore online advertisements; 2) social networking sitesdo not know how to effectively connect online advertising to users'personal interests; 3) social networking sites attempt to predict users'interests by matching online advertisements to user contributed socialcontents without knowing what advertisements attract users; and 4) usershave no say in the online advertising process and are not interested toclick on online advertisements.

In addition, current social networking sites enable users ‘to buildrelationships only at a surface level by enabling them to shareinformation with others. There are many dimensions for users to buildbetter relationships with others in the real world. However, suchfactors have not been translated into the online virtual world. Currentsocial networking sites do not help users foster deeper relationshipsamong one another through an online platform system to allow users tohelp each other for their wide variety of needs.

E-commerce sites, such as eBay and Amazon have much lower reach ratesand user memberships than major social networking sites; however, theygenerate much more revenue than current social networking sites becausethey directly sell products to consumers online. Users normally visite-commerce sites when they need to buy something online and not fortheir social needs; therefore, e-commerce sites are lacking usercontributed contents that are related to users' personal lives, such assharing information, thoughts, photos and videos with others like theycan do on social networking sites. This is the key reason why e-commercesites can't generate the kind of traffic seen on social networkingsites.

There is a huge gap between the two types of Internet businesses, whichrepresents a tremendous potential for the future growth of the Internet.If a bridge can be built to seamlessly link social networking sites toe-commerce sites, a win-win situation for end-users and organizationswould be realized. There is a need to invent new methods to effectivelylink social network functions to e-commerce functions.

In addition, although major search engine websites are able to generatehuge online traffic and revenue, their online advertising module lacksuser interaction, and therefore, they are unable to reach their fullestpotential in getting more advertising dollars as evidenced by their lowuser response rates. There is a need to invent new methods to transformsearch engine advertisements into user interactive advertisements and toincorporate user-participated online advertisements into search enginewebsites.

Current online advertisements on the Internet are still at the 1.0 stagewhereby advertisements are displayed to end-users in a passive way thatare waiting for users to click on them and pop-up advertisements areignored and un-welcomed by users. Even though Internet companies aretrying to target their advertisements to users by matchingadvertisements to the contents users typed in, they do not really knowwhat user wants and have not thought of methods to link onlineadvertisements to users' personal lives and to make online advertisingprocess user interactive. In other words, current online advertisementshave not evolved from their 1.0 display status to 2.0 user interactiveonline advertisements.

There is a need to invent new methods to transform the current onlineadvertisements into dynamic, user-participated and user controlledonline advertisements. Instead of guessing and trying to matchadvertisements that may interest users, let users tell advertiser whatadvertisements they want and empower them to play a significant role inthe online advertising process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Brief Summary

The purposes of the invention are to: 1) effectively link socialnetworking and e-commerce through entity and individual sponsorship toenable users to help and support each other's wide variety of needs; 2)significantly increase e-commerce activities through user jointpurchasing, gifting, sharing, multi-dimensional and dynamicinteractions; and 3) dramatically improve online advertising results ondifferent types of websites by transforming static and passive onlineadvertisements into user-participated and proactive onlineadvertisements.

The present invention contains additional methods and functions of theproposed e-commerce and networking website (e.g., called HotTerrain.com)that we submitted our patent application for on May 21, 2008 (pleaserefer to our U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/154,241, published asU.S. Pub. No. 20090292595, the contents of which are incorporated byreference herein in their entirety). We had disclosed additional methodsand functions to Syracuse Technology Garden, Seed Capital Funds ofCentral New York, Excell Partners, Inc., Mohawk Valley Edge, and severalother entities and individuals since July 2008.

One embodiment of the present invention regarding the online e-commerceand networking system includes but is not limited to enabling users tohelp each other via entity and individual sponsorship, joint purchasingand joint wish fulfillment whereby users pool their resources andincentives obtained from advertisers and individuals to help and supportone another. Users can request sponsorship from advertisers, friends,family and community members to: 1) obtain digital items (e.g.,e-stamps, e-stickers, e-items, etc.) and real merchandise for themselvesand for others at lower prices or for free; 2) obtain digital money forlater usage; 3) play certain fee-based online games, join fee-basedonline events and learning sessions, etc. at a lower price or for free;4) donate or raise funds for charities; 5) donate or receive digitalmoney, digital or real items to or from others; 6) singly or jointlyobtain digital and/or real items for family members, friends andacquaintances on occasions such as birthday, graduation, marriage, babyshower, etc.; 7) exchange digital and/or real items with others; and 8)arrange digital and physical assets for friends, family and others, etc.

The present invention provides: 1) more dynamic interactions amongcommunity members to enable them to support and help each other; 2) moreoptions for users to set up committees for their communities and toestablish community funds; 3) enabling users to effectively manage theirmultiple external website accounts; 4) enabling online influencers toenhance their status and influence; and 5) enabling employees of anorganization to obtain digital and/or real items for co-workers onoccasions such as promotion, birthday, marriage, farewell, etc.

For organizations, the present invention enables them to: 1)significantly increase sales and online traffic; 2) build direct andbetter relationships with users; 3) more effectively collect donationsfrom users; 4) reach out to more users; and 5) improve operationaleffectiveness.

Advertisement Methods

Another embodiment of the present invention is related to onlineadvertisements whereby not only do users control online advertisementsdisplayed on their webpages and share in the advertising revenue, butalso participate in the design and modification of onlineadvertisements.

The present invention enables users to control advertisements on theirHotTerrain (HT) webpages and community webpages and they control who cansee their profiles, wish lists, and personal information. Users canrequest or select specific online advertisements of their interests tobe displayed in their webpages, share in the advertising revenue,customize online advertisements and participate in the design process ofonline advertisements.

Advertisers who advertise on HotTerrain.com benefit tremendously fromthe present invention as they receive significantly improved onlineadvertising results because of the follows reasons: 1) increased clickthrough rates when users click on SponsorAds to request sponsorship andendorse advertisements; 2) supply targeted SponsorAds to users' HTspaces and communities based on more dynamic and quality data providedby users that lead to increased conversion rates and successful sales;3) a user's participation in the online advertising process adds ahuman/personal element to SponsorAds whereby they are more likely to beclicked by the user's friends, family members and community members; and4) increased display opportunities in multiple locations ofHotTerrain.com as well as on external partnering websites.

The present invention enables advertisers to: 1) build one-to-onerelationship with a user by online events and by sponsoring the user'sneeds and wishes, who would most likely have a good impression on thesponsoring advertisers and favor their products and services; 2) tailorproduct and service promotions that match users' online behavior so asto receive significantly improved response rates; and 3) enhance brandname recognition and turn ordinary users into advertising publishersthrough sponsorship.

The unique features and functions provided by the present invention toadvertisers include but are not limited to: 1) create SponsorAds topromote products and services and set advertisement bidding prices(e.g., Cost Per Click, Cost Per Thousand Impression, etc.) and set userminimum HT score for sponsorship to control advertising expenses; 2)offer digital money (e.g., HT Money) to users who have high HT scores inexchange for displaying SponsorAds on their webpages; 3) sponsorqualified users and online communities to help them obtain digital orreal items of their great interests and to play fee-based games, joinfee-based online events and learning sessions, etc.; 4) set the totalamount of Sponsorship for a SponsorAd to further control advertisingexpense; 5) renew a SponsorAd when its incentives are running out; 6)provide promotional virtual mails with collector e-stamps to users toachieve significantly improved opening rate; 7) incorporate HT Money,digital and/or real items as user incentives to promote sales; 8) teamup with other companies to cross-promote products and services onHotTerrain.com; and 9) target user segments that are most likely torespond to their online advertisements, etc.

The present invention also provides methods to transform existing onlineadvertisements into user incentive-based online advertisements to createa win-win situation for advertisers, advertising publishers andend-users. Companies and organizations not only have an option todisplay SponsorAds on their own websites, but also an option tointegrate the present invention methods, features and functions intotheir own websites to share in the advertising revenue, to creasetraffic and foster relationships with users.

For example, search engine companies can bridge the gap between theirpassive/static online advertisements and the users' personal interests,needs and preferences through displaying our SponsorAds and transformingtheir advertisements into user incentive-based advertisements. They willbe able to: 1) build direct relationships with end users; 2) sponsorusers' wide variety of needs to enhance brand name recognition; 3)increase search traffic by providing incentives that meet users'specific and wide variety of needs; 4) link search engine websites tousers' personal lives; and 5) significantly increase online advertisingresults.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of a user requesting sponsorshipfrom individual(s) on the consumer-to-consumer marketplace of thee-commerce and networking system.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of a user requesting sponsorshipfrom individual(s) on the business-to-consumer marketplace of thee-commerce and networking system.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of a user's wish list on thee-commerce and networking system.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of a user requesting individualsponsorship for wish fulfillment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of a user requesting advertisers tofulfill a wish.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary illustration of a user accessing a friend's wishlist.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary illustration of a user voluntarily fulfilling afriend's wish with others.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary illustration of an advertiser setting up aSponsorAd.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary illustration of inserting user incentives intothird party online advertisements displayed on HotTerrain.com.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary illustration of user participation on onlineadvertisement design.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary illustration of allowing other websites todownload scripts to integrate present invention functions.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary illustration of unique functions to enable usersto arrange other users' assets.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary illustration depicting functions to enable usersto set-up community funds.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary illustration of enabling users to requestdigital money from community members.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary illustration of one embodiment of presentinvention for a user to request/donate digital money to charities.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary illustration of online Secret Friends event.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary illustration of group and role-based security.

FIG. 18 is an exemplary illustration of joint payment methods.

FIG. 19 is an exemplary illustration of free assets in the e-commerceand networking system.

FIG. 20 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating the process of insertinguser incentives into third party online advertisements.

FIG. 21 is an exemplary flow chart illustrating the process ofintegrating present invention functions into other websites.

FIG. 22 is an exemplary illustration of a user managing external websiteaccounts through HotTerrain.com.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, various aspects of the present inventionwill be described. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that the present invention may be practiced with only some or allaspects of the present invention. For purposes of explanation, specificnumbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will alsobe apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without the specific details. In other instances, well-knownfeatures are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the presentinvention.

Parts of the description will be presented in terms of operationsperformed by a processor based device, using terms such as data, tables,requesting, selecting, supplementing, displaying, and the like,consistent with the manner commonly employed by those skilled in the artto convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Aswell understood by those skilled in the art, the quantities take theform of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of beingstored, transferred, combined, and otherwise manipulated throughmechanical and electrical components of the processor based device; andthe term processor includes microprocessors, micro-controllers, digitalsignal processors, and the like, that are standalone, adjunct orembedded.

Various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps in turn,in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention;however, the order of description should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular,these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.Further, the description repeatedly uses the phrase “in one embodiment”,which ordinarily does not refer to the same embodiment, although it may.

Other features of the illustrated embodiments will be apparent to thereader from the foregoing and the appended claims, and as the detaileddescription and discussion in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

While the invention is described and illustrated here in the context ofa limited number of embodiments, the invention may be embodied in manyforms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristicsof the invention. The illustrated and described embodiments, includingwhat is described in the abstract of the disclosure document, aretherefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appendedclaims rather than by the forgoing description, and all changes, whichcome within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims areintended to be embraced therein.

Now referring to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1 that depicts auser (e.g., Mary Smith) requesting sponsorship from individual(s) on theconsumer-to-consumer marketplace (e.g., HT Market) of the e-commerce andnetworking system. As indicated, user Mary Smith is interested in a usedTexas Instruments calculator and intends to buy this item by requestingindividual sponsorship to lower the price of the item. In thisparticular example, Mary clicks on “Individual Sponsorship” button 101and the system allows her to select individual(s) or groups that shewants sponsorship from by clicking on the drop down menu 102 to selectindividual(s) or groups. She also has options of typing in theindividual's name as shown at 103 and selecting multiple individuals byclicking the link 104. She can input or select the amount she wants fromeach individual by clicking on the drop down menu 105 or leave theamount blank to let the recipient(s) voluntarily provides any amount.Once she inputs or selects individual(s), a message similar to what'sshown at 106 is automatically generated by the system to display hersponsorship request. The system also enables her to input a message 107and preview her sponsorship request that will be presented to herrecipient(s) by pressing “Preview” button 108. She can edit hersponsorship request until satisfaction and then press “Submit” button109 to send out her sponsorship request. She has an option of setting aresponse deadline (not shown on FIG. 1) for her recipient(s) to respond.

Her recipient(s) can approve, reject or do nothing to the request. Ifher recipient(s) approves, an approval message is sent to Mary for herto proceed to the checkout process, the amount of sponsorship Maryrequests will either be reserved in her recipient(s)' digital moneyaccount or Mary's digital money account if it's transferred from therecipient(s)' account to Mary's account until Mary completes thepurchasing process. Once Mary purchases the item, the amount ofsponsorship Mary requests will be deducted/released from therecipient(s) account or Mary's account and be deposited into theseller's account. In some cases, a user's received sponsoring amountfrom sponsors may be greater than the price of the item on sale. Thesystem automatically sends the right amount to the seller and depositsthe excess amount to the user's digital money account upon purchasing.The payment method can also be in other forms, such as credit card,PayPal, online checks, etc. User Mary Smith also has an option ofcanceling her sponsorship request before her recipient(s) responses hersponsorship request. A cancellation message is sent to each recipientimmediately when Mary cancels the request. HotTerrain.com enables Maryto select other recipient(s) to sponsor her after sending hersponsorship request to her recipient(s) or after receiving a rejectionfrom one of her prior batch recipient(s).

Referring to FIG. 2, therein is presented an exemplary user interface ofthe e-commerce and networking system that enables a user to requestindividual sponsorship on the system's business-to-consumer marketplace(e.g., HT Mall) according to the present invention. As represented inFIG. 2, user Mary Smith is interested in a flea treatment product forcats. In this particular example, Mary clicks on “IndividualSponsorship” button 201 and the system allows her to selectindividual(s) or groups that she wants sponsorship from by clicking onthe drop down menu 202 to select individual(s) or groups.

In this case, she selects her “Close Friends” group (the group androle-based security functions will be further elaborated in FIG. 17).She also has options of typing in the individual's name and selectingmultiple individuals by clicking the links similar to 103 and 104 ofFIG. 1 (not shown on FIG. 2). As indicated on FIG. 2, Mary can input orselect the amount she wants from all individuals by inputting the amountshown at 203, by clicking on the drop down menu to select (not shown),or leave the amount blank to let recipient(s) voluntarily provides anyamount. Once she inputs or selects the total sponsorship amount shewants, the system automatically calculates the amount each individualwill provide her and displays a message similar to what's shown at 204.The system also enables her to input a message 205 and preview hersponsorship request that will be presented to her recipient(s) bypressing “Preview” button 206. She can edit her sponsorship requestuntil satisfaction and then press “Submit” button 207 to send out hersponsorship request. She has an option of setting a response deadline(not shown on FIG. 2) for her recipient(s) to respond.

Her recipient(s) can approve, reject or do nothing to the request. Ifher recipient(s) approves, an approval message is sent to Mary for herto proceed to the checkout process, the amount of sponsorship Maryrequests will either be reserved in her recipient(s)' digital moneyaccount or Mary's digital money account if it's transferred from therecipient(s)' account to Mary's account until Mary completes thepurchasing process. Once Mary purchases the item, the amount ofsponsorship Mary requests will be deducted/released from therecipient(s) account or Mary's account and be deposited into theseller's account.

In one embodiment of the present invention, if multiple recipientsapprove Mary's request for sponsorship at different times, the systemmay reserve the sponsoring amount in early approvers' digital moneyaccounts, show Mary the reduced balance upon each recipient's approval,and actually perform the digital money transfer when Mary finallypurchases the item. Edit checks are built in to ensure that digitalmoney accounts of all participants have sufficient amounts for anysponsorship or digital money transfer. If Mary does not complete thepurchasing process by a deadline (e.g., a reasonable time period afterthe response date she set or when the item is no longer on sale due toother users' purchase or due to seller's withdrawal), the system hasoptions to unfreeze the sponsoring amount from Mary's recipient(s)'digital money account(s) and inform Mary that she has not purchased theitem by the deadline or the item is no longer on sale and the digitalmoney she requested from her recipient(s) is unfrozen and returned toher recipient(s). She can request her recipients to donate digital moneyto her that is not tied to any item if she likes.

In some cases, a user's received sponsor amount may be greater than theprice of the item on sale. The system automatically sends the rightamount to the seller and deposits the excess amount to the user'sdigital money account. The payment method can also be in other forms,such as credit card, PayPal, online checks, etc. Such transactions areconducted in real money, and each transaction is performed preferablyupon a recipient's approval (meaning, the sponsoring amount in realmoney terms is processed from the recipient's credit card, PayPalaccount or bank account when the recipient approves the request) and theseller gets the real money amounts from Mary's sponsors, although theseller may need to pay transaction fees associated with credit card,PayPal or online check processing. If Mary receives rejections from someof her recipients, she can send her request to additional people, suchas her other friends, family members and community members.

The seller has options to ship the item until full payment is receivedor when the payment reaches certain amount to allow the remainingbalance to be paid after the item is shipped. If Mary does not completethe purchasing process by a certain deadline and the product has notbeen shipped, the system activates functions to refund the exactpayments made by the payers or impose penalty fees and return theremaining payments to the payers. If Mary defaults on her payment forthe remaining balance after the product is shipped, the seller canreport her default activity to Credit Bureaus. Also, the option for Maryto cancel her sponsorship request is similar to that of FIG. 1.

Now referring to FIG. 3, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof a user's wish list page. Let's assume user Mary Smith added “iRobot1100 Dirt Dog Workshop Robot” from HT Mall and “Eternal 3-piece ServingSet” from HT Market to her wish list by clicking on “Add to Wish List”button next to the item on HT Mall and HT Market, similar to existinge-commerce websites that allow a user to add item(s) to a shopping cartor wish list. When Mary clicks “My Wish List” Link 300 on the leftnavigation menu, she is presented with a screen similar to FIG. 3. Asone embodiment of the present invention, Mary can click on “Sponsorship”buttons 301 and 302 to request or solicit sponsorship from individualsand entities. The user can also input her wish in textbox 303 for itemsnot found on HotTerrain or for obtaining digital money, and press “Post”button 304 to post her typed-in wish to her wish list, which isaccessible by individuals she authorizes. Similarly, she can request orsolicit sponsorship for her typed-in wish from individuals and entitiesby clicking on “Sponsorship” button 305. She can also click on “Inputmore wishes” link 306 to input her multiple wishes. Mary can also additems found on other e-commerce website into her HotTerrain wish list.Also, the system enables Mary to click on “Share with” button 307 toshare her wish list with individuals or groups she likes, includingpublishing her wish list to the world.

With reference to FIG. 4, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof a user (e.g., Mary Smith) requesting sponsorship from individuals tofulfill one of her wishes. As illustrated on FIG. 4, Mary Smith isinterested to get an iRobot as her Christmas gift as shown at 401.Assuming the price of the iRobot is US$100 and the seller also acceptsdigital money (e.g., HT Money), the HotTerrain system automaticallycalculates equivalent HT Money based on an exchange rate between HTMoney and US dollars (the system maintains and calculates currentexchange rates between HT Money and real currencies, including non-UScurrencies). Mary decides to request sponsorship from individuals byclicking on “Individual Sponsorship” button 402. She then selects“Family” group from the dropdown menu 403 and further selects “Requestall family members” to have five members listed in this group to sponsorher for the iRobot. HotTerrain system automatically calculates thesponsoring amount from each family member based on the price of theiRobot as shown at 404. Similarly, she has options to input a message,set a deadline, preview her request and modify her request beforesending out her request for wish fulfillment. The transaction processafter sending out her request is similar to that of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 5, therein is depicted an exemplary illustration of auser (e.g., Mary Smith) requesting advertisers to fulfill a wish. Asdepicted, user Mary Smith is interested to purchase “Eternal 3-pieceserving set” from seller Jane Plain. She presses “Sponsorship” button302 of FIG. 3, chooses “Entity Sponsorship” (this step is skipped,however, it's similar to pressing “Entity Sponsorship” button 405 onFIG. 4) and is presented with sponsor list 500. For simplicity, onlyfive SponsorAds are displayed on Sponsor List 500 and the user can clickon any “Request sponsorship” link to request sponsorship fromadvertisers. For example, Mary clicks on “Request sponsorship” link 501,a pop-up window or expansible area of the same sponsor list page showsthe detailed content of Dell Inc.'s advertisement, Mary's current HTScore, Dell Inc.'s minimum HT Score requirement for this particularsponsorship, a message saying “you are qualified for this sponsorship”(assuming Mary's HT score meets Dell Inc.'s requirement) and an “Accept”button for Mary to obtain HT200 from Dell Inc. (not shown on FIG. 5).Once pressed, a message such as “Request approved. You are qualified formore sponsorship. This SponsorAd will be placed in your HT Space andCommunity web pages for 30 days” appears on the screen. Mary has anoption to proceed to obtain sponsorship by clicking on “Requestsponsorship” links 502, 503 and 504 until she no longer qualifies formore sponsorship. If a SponsorAd accepted by Mary is clicked by otherusers on her HotTerrain Webpages, Mary may obtain an additional amountof digital money from the advertiser for each click (e.g., HT I perclick).

As shown on FIG. 5, Mary is not qualified for Amazon's sponsorship whenshe clicks on “Request sponsorship” at 503, but the system informed herto select another Sponsorship. Each time she obtains HT Money from thesponsoring company, the amount of digital money sponsorship is deductedfrom the price of the product she is interested in. For this particularexample, she obtains a total of HT850, which is deducted from HT4,900 ofthe price of the item. In other words, the seller gets HT850 from Mary'ssponsors if Mary purchases the serving set at a lowed priced of $40.50or HT4,050 by pressing “Purchase” button 505. If she presses “Cancel”button 506 to abandon her purchasing, the amount of sponsorship sheobtains is deposited into her HT Money account and subtracted from thesponsors' HT Money accounts and the Sponsoring entities' SponsorAds willbe displayed on Mary's HotTerrain space and community webpages for acertain period of time (e.g., 30 days).

If the user decides to cancel an approved sponsorship before purchasingthe item, the amount of incentive (e.g., HT200 from Dell Inc.) is takenback by HotTerrain and deposit back into Dell Inc.'s HT Money account,and Dell Inc.'s advertisement is removed from the user's HT space andcommunity webpages, and the price of the item is adjusted back by addingHT200. The user can then select another sponsor for sponsorship or toabandon the requesting sponsorship or purchasing action. Similarly, inthe case wherein the sponsoring amount from advertisers is greater thanthe value of the item, the user may receive the overage amount in her HTMoney account when she completes the purchasing process.

Now, referring to FIG. 6, therein is presented an exemplary illustrationof a user (e.g., Mary Smith) viewing a friend's wish list. Asrepresented on FIG. 6, Mary Smith is authorized by her friend LindaMatuzak to view Linda's wish list, which includes VitaClay Rice Cooker,Ston Mountain Capetown Shoulder Bag and Linda's wish to obtain digitalmoney HT 1,000. Mary Smith has options to click the “Fulfill Wish”button 601 of the item she intends to voluntarily fulfill for Linda orthe “Sponsorship” button 602 to request advertisers to help her sponsorLinda's specific wish. The system also enables Mary to select Linda'smultiple wishes (e.g., select checkboxes in front of items she wants tofulfill Linda's wishes) and press “Fulfill Wishes” button 603 to fulfillLinda's wishes by herself or with other individuals or press“Sponsorship” button 604 to request advertisers to help her fulfillLinda's multiple wishes.

Referring to FIG. 7 therein is presented an exemplary illustration of auser (e.g., Mary Smith) voluntarily fulfilling a friend's wish withother individuals. As indicated, Mary Smith chooses to fulfill herfriend Linda Matuzak's second wish as shown on FIG. 6. By clicking on“Fulfill Wish” button 601 of FIG. 6, Mary is then presented with anexemplary screen display 700. She is presented with several options,such as to fulfill the friend's wish of a Stone Mountain shoulder bag byherself; to fulfill the friend's wish with others; to go back to Linda'swish list; or to cancel the fulfillment action.

In this exemplary scenario, Mary chooses to fulfill Linda's wish for aStone Mountain shoulder bag with her friends. She selects “invite allfriends” from the dropdown menu 702 and set a response date as shown at703. The HotTerrain system automatically calculates each member'scontribution amount (including Mary Smith's) for fulfilling Linda's wishas shown at 704. Similarly, Mary can input a message, preview herrequest and edit her request before sending her request to her friends.She can also set date of releasing this fulfillment information to Lindaby clicking on drop down menu—705 to select a date from a calendar orinput a date. In this exemplary scenario, Linda will receive informationabout her wish for a Stone Mountain bag is fulfilled by Mary Smith andher friends as well as the item delivery information on her birthday(Linda provided her birthday when she created her HotTerrain account).Before that set-date for information release, the HotTerrain systemdisplays a generic message next to Linda's wish item such as “this itemis in the process of being fulfilled by someone” to Linda and all herauthorized individuals to view, so that duplicate fulfillment effortscan be avoided.

The system enables Mary's friends to request sponsorship from entitiesand other individuals to fulfill Linda's wish. Similarly, if some ofMary's friends rejected her request to fulfill Linda's wish or do notrespond by the due date, Mary can request other individuals in hernetwork by selecting from the dropdown menu 702, pressing “SolicitSponsorship” button 706 to allow system automatic match of sponsoringadvertisers to help her out, or pressing “Request Sponsorship” button707 to request specific sponsoring advertisers to help her out. Seedetails of advertiser sponsorship process on FIG. 5.

With reference to FIG. 8, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof an advertiser setting up a SponsorAd (refer to our patent applicationSer. No. 12/154,241). As indicated in display 800, an administrator ofan entity that intends to advertise on HotTerrain can set up a SponsorAdby inputting information such as Title 801, Description 802 and URL 803.The administrator can also upload a picture of the product or servicethat will be advertised by clicking on “Browse” button 804. Theadministrator can then set a user's minimum HT score in textbox 805 fora user to obtain the incentive associated with the advertisement he iscreating and also set the sponsor amount for each user at 806.HotTerrain may display Average User HT Score and suggest the minimum HTscore to advertisers to facilitate their decision-making.

To control the total sponsor amount, the administrator can set maximumsponsor amount at 807 for the particular advertising campaign. Theadministrator can further control the advertisement cost by settingDaily Cost Per Click (CPC) at 808 and Maximum Daily CPC amount at 809,or Cost Per Thousand Impression (CPM) at 810 and Maximum Daily CPMamount a 811. Once completed, the administrator can click on “Submit”button 812 to post and activate the SponsorAd. Edit checks are in placeto ensure that the advertiser's HT Money account has sufficient balanceto cover the sponsoring cost. Multiple administrator IDs can be createdfor an advertising company to manage its SponsorAds on HotTerrain. Theadministrator(s) can click on “SponsorAds” tab 813 to view or edit allSponsorAds they created. HotTerrain may allow advertisers to borrow HTMoney to sponsor users and pay back the borrowed amount with interest ata later time.

Now, referring to FIG. 9, therein is presented an exemplary illustrationof a HotTerrain webpage that incorporates third party onlineadvertisements. For this particular example, the Google AdSense programis integrated into HotTerrain.com as shown at 901. A message similar to902 is displayed to inform user Mary Smith that she can obtainHotTerrain digital money by clicking on Google advertisements up to adaily maximum. The system automatically tracks each click of a Googleadvertisement from a user and deposits the corresponding amount of thedigital money (e.g., HT1 per click) to the user's HT Money account untilthe daily maximum is met. The user can then use the digital money forher various needs. Therefore, the present invention effectivelytransforms existing static/passive online advertisements intouser-participated online advertisements to achieve significantlyimproved online advertising results.

Referring to FIG. 10, therein is presented an exemplary illustrationdepicting one embodiment of our invention to enable users to designadvertisements for advertisers. The display 1000 showing a HotTerrainuser interface is the result of clicking a SponsorAd similar to thesecond SponsorAd shown on FIG. 5. A SponsorAd can be displayed onmultiple webpages of HotTerrain upon a user's various actions, such aswhen a user: 1) requests sponsorship from entities to fulfill wishes; 2)obtains certain unique items on Assets application or module; 3)participates in certain, events on Groups application or module; 4)obtains certain items on HT Market and HT Mall applications and modules;5) obtains sponsorship on Sponsors module; and 6) obtain sponsorship onDevelopers applications or module, etc.

For this exemplary illustration, let's assume user Mary Smith clicks on“Request sponsorship” link 502 on FIG. 5 and she is presented withdisplay 1000 to proceed with the process of obtaining sponsorship fromMicrosoft. As depicted, the system displays her current HT score,Microsoft's minimum HT score for obtaining the particular sponsorshipand her qualification for the sponsorship at 1001. The system instructsher to click “Accept” button 1005 at the bottom of the page and informsher of the result of such acceptance at 1002. The page displaysMicrosoft's SponsorAd regarding its Windows 7 Operating System thatcomprises “Pre-order Windows 7” 1003 and “Windows 7 0/5 AdvertisementContest” 1004. The exemplary advertisement 1003 comprises title,picture, advertisement content, links and video. The “Windows 7 0/5Advertisement Contest” announcement 1004 enables the user to design“Windows 7 0/S Advertisement” to win the award (e.g., HT Money, realmoney or other compensations). By clicking the link in 1004, the usercan proceed to design the advertisement for Microsoft who sets specificrules, restrictions and requirements for the particular advertisementdesign.

This type of interactive advertisement helps foster a betterrelationship between an organization and an end-user or consumer. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that a SponsorAd may only compriseadvertisement area similar to that of 1003, only comprise invitation foruser advertisement design similar to 1004 or both as shown on FIG. 10.In some cases, a user does not need to participate in the advertisementcontest the first time she sees the announcement, rather she can acceptthe SponsorAd to obtain the incentive and then find this advertisementon her multiple webpages later on to participate in the contest, such asher sponsor history page, sponsor list, SponsorAd area of her variouswebpages, through SponsorAd search, etc. In some other cases, a userneeds to complete the customization or modification of a particularadvertisement in order to obtain the associated incentives, and suchtask is normally easier whereby the user simply customizes or modifiesthe advertisement to be displayed to add some personal characters orpreferences, including font, size, color, audio, graphics, video,content and the like. This type of advertisements will be moreattractive to the user's friends, family and community members becauseof user participation and personalization. Therefore, they lead todramatically improved online advertising results.

For FIG. 10, when user Mary Smith clicks “Accept” button 1005, thesystem automatically deducts HT500 from Microsoft's HT Money account anddeposits the amount into Mary's HT Money account (not shown), andMicrosoft's advertisement is displayed in her HT space and communitywebpages for a certain period of time (e.g., 30 days). If Mary does notlike the advertisement or for other reasons, she can abandon the requestsponsorship process by clicking on “Cancel” button 1006 or by switchingto another page.

Now, referring to FIG. 11, therein is presented an exemplaryillustration depicting one embodiment of the present invention inimplementing HotTerrain.com unique methods and functions to other thirdparty websites that support user account creation. For this particularexample, a social networking site (e.g., ABC Social Networking)incorporates HotTerrain scripts to become part of HotTerrain networkthat offers unique functions to its users. HotTerrain automaticallyidentifies users having accounts on both HotTerrain and ABC socialnetworking site by the following methods: 1) comparing email addressesprovided by users to the two websites so that matching email accountscan be identified; 2) enable a user to type in his ABC social networkingsite login ID and password on his HotTerrain account to enable systeminterface to identify users with accounts on both websites; and 3)enable a user to type in his HotTerrain login ID and password on his ABCsocial networking site account to enable system interface to identifyusers with accounts on both websites.

As depicted on FIG. 11, the system identifies user Joe Blowe hasaccounts on both websites. When Joe Blowe logs on to ABC SocialNetworking site, he is then able to see HotTerrain SponsorAds 1101 thatare supplied by HotTerrain and are targeted to him based on his onlinebehavior on both ABC Social Networking site and HotTerrain. The user'sadvertising space and activities on ABC Social Networking site areincluded in the calculation of his HT Score, which increases his HTScore because he has more available advertising space and activities(see example of HT score calculation in patent application Ser. No.12/154,241). In this particular example, when Joe Blowe clicks on“Request sponsorship” link of the first SponsorAd shown in 1101, heimmediately accesses his HotTerrain account due to system interfacing orsingle sign-on and he is able to proceed to the sponsorship process. Ifhe qualifies and accepts the sponsorship, the advertiser willimmediately place targeted SponsorAds on his ABC Social Networkingwebpages and HotTerrain webpages through HotTerrain system. If Joe Blowedoesn't have a HotTerrain account, when he clicks on “Requestsponsorship” link of the first SponsorAd shown in 1101, he is presentedwith the detailed content of the SponsorAd and a link to create aHotTerrain account.

In this particular example, since Joe Blowe is also a HotTerrain user,the HotTerrain system automatically supplies HotTerrain Feeds thatcontain his HotTerrain status updates into his ABC Social Networkingsite account, including but not limited to what is displayed in area1102. The user is able to get updates of his HotTerrain account statusand activities while using ABC Social Networking site. And he can clickon the links shown on 1102 to immediately access the respective pages ofhis HotTerrain account to interact with HotTerrain without the need tosign in. The third party websites that can join HotTerrain networkinclude all types of websites, such as Web 2.0 sites, e-commerce sites,email sites, hotel reward sites, airline sites, etc.

With reference to FIG. 12, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof one embodiment of our invention to allow users to arrange otherusers' assets to enable more user interactions on HotTerrain.com. Asindicated, user Mary Smith is granted access to her friend Lisa Tan'sAssets. She clicks “Photos” 1201 to view Lisa's photos that are placedin default folder “General” 1202. Mary decides to arrange Lisa's photosfor Lisa by creating different categories of folders, such as “Trip toEngland”, “Birthday”, Christmas Party”, etc., through functional button“Add Folder” 1206. These folders are shown in a directory similar toemail folders in a navigation panel, such as the one shown on the leftside of FIG. 12. Mary can click “General” folder 1202 and drag and dropphotos inside the general folder to the applicable folders, or rightclick each photo and send it to the applicable folder through selectionfrom a menu displayed upon right clicking.

The system is configured so that Mary has no authority to delete any ofLisa's photos or move Lisa's photos out of Lisa's HotTerrain accountunless authorized by Lisa to do so. Mary can select photo folders shecreated for Lisa and press “Send Folders for Approval” button 1209 torequest Lisa to approve relocating photos from the “General” folder tospecific folders or to make copies of photos and place them in therespective folders. Similar to what's elaborated in the patentapplication Ser. No. 12/154,241, Mary can select Lisa's photo folder(s),click on “Photo Album Template” 1203 to select a photo album to convertphotos in a folder into the album, preview the photo album selected bypressing “Preview Photo Album” 1204, save the photo album with photosinside by pressing “Save Photo Album” 1205. Mary can also click on“Print Photo Album” 1207 to print out selected Lisa's Photo Album(s) asa gift to Lisa, or click on “Solicit Sponsorship” 1208 torequest/solicit sponsorship from individuals and entities to obtain orbuy the selected Lisa's Photo Album(s) that maybe professionallydesigned, high quality and fee-based.

In another embodiment, Lisa has the option of making her photos (or hereStamps and other Assets) public to allow other users to arrange herphotos or other assets for free or for fee (e.g. charging HT Money). Ifother users arrange Lisa's photos for free, Lisa has the option ofsending/donating certain amount of HT Money or items on HotTerrain tothose users as appreciation. For the fee-based services, if Lisa is notsatisfied with the service, she can give negative feedback to theuser(s) who arranged her photos or other Assets.

Referring to FIG. 13, therein is presented an exemplary illustration ofone embodiment of our invention to enable users to setup communityfunds. As indicated, an exemplary group called “e-Stamps” has 521,733members. The group administrators (or committee members/officers) decideto setup a community fund for users of this group. A group administratorclicks on “Request HT Money from Members” link 1301 and the screensimilar to FIG. 13 appears to allow the administrator select the amountof donation from each member by clicking on selection menu 1302. Theadministrator can also select to request from all group members orspecific members as shown at 1303. The administrator has options ofinputting a message as shown at 1304 and selecting “Community Fund” asthe reason for requesting donation by clicking selection menu 1305.

Once the request is sent out, a recipient can simply click on a “donate”button (not shown) to donate the amount requested and has an option todonate more, less or do nothing. Some groups can make member donation tocommunity funds a prerequisite for joining those groups. And some groupscan terminate memberships of certain users if they provide no donationsfor a certain period of time. Other groups may require no communityfunds at all. HotTerrain may be configured to only allow groupadministrators (or committee members/officers) to setup community funds.The information regarding donations to a community fund of a group andthe spending activities of the fund is viewable to all group members toensure transparency and to prevent embezzlement of the fund.

With reference to FIG. 14, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof one embodiment of our invention to enable users to request digitalmoney from community members. As indicated, user Joe Blowe of theexemplary group “e-Stamps” needs some help from his group members. Heclicks on “Request HT Money from Members” link 1401 and the screensimilar to FIG. 14 appears to allow him to select the amount of donationfrom each member by clicking on selection menu 1402. The user can alsoselect to request from all group members or specific members as shown at1403. The user has options of inputting a message as shown at 1404 andselecting “Personal Needs” as the reason for requesting donation byclicking selection menu 1405.

Similarly, once the request is sent out, a recipient can simply click ona “donate” button (not shown) to donate the amount requested (in thiscase, the amount of his liking), reject the request, or do nothing. Ifdonated, the amount is subtracted from the recipient's HT Money accountand deposited to Joe Blowe's HT Money account.

Now, referring to FIG. 15, therein is depicted a further illustration ofone embodiment of our invention to enable users to request/donatedigital money to charities in addition to patent application Ser. No.12/154,241. As indicated, user Mary Smith of the exemplary group“e-Stamps” wants to help the American Heart Association. She clicks on“Request HT Money from Members” link 1501 and the screen similar to FIG.15 appears to allow her to select the amount of donation from eachmember by clicking on selection menu 1502. She can also select torequest from all group members or specific members as shown at 1503. Theuser has options of inputting a message as shown at 1504 and selecting“American Heart Association” as the reason for requesting donation byclicking selection menu 1505.

Similarly, once the request is sent out, a recipient can simply click ona “donate” button (not shown) to donate the amount requested, donatemore or less, reject the request, or do nothing. If donated, the amountis subtracted from the recipient's HT Money account and deposited in theAmerican Heart Association's HT Money account. The system also shows thetotal amount of fund raised by Mary Smith for the American HeartAssociation and donors' contribution information to all communitymembers. HotTerrain performs background checks and verification whencharity organizations setup their HotTerrain accounts to ensure thelegitimacy of those charity accounts and to prevent fraudulentactivities by malicious individuals.

With reference now to FIG. 16, therein is depicted an exemplaryillustration of one embodiment of our invention to enable onlinecommunity members to foster better relationships and dynamicinteractions with others through online events, such as “SecretFriends”. As indicated, members of XYZ Inc. enroll in a month-long“Secret Friends” program as shown at 1601. The system automaticallyassigns a secret friend to each user whereby the user doesn't know whohis or her secret friend is until the end of the event. As depicted at1602, user Mary Smith is informed that she is user Joe Blowe's secretfriend and she is obligated to keep this as a secret. During the courseof the event, she can get digital and physical gifts on HotTerrain toJoe Blowe and Joe Blowe only receives the gifts without knowing whoprovides them. If Mary provides gifts obtained outside of HotTerrain(e.g., gift made by herself), she can upload the pictures of them, inputinformation about them and send them to Joe Blowe without identifyingherself.

Similarly, Mary Smith can view gifts sent by her secret friend as shownat 1603. She can also view other members' received gifts from theirsecret friends and give ratings to those gifts as shown at 1604, justlike others can view and vote on her received gifts. At the end of theevent (event duration is configurable by XYZ Inc.members/administrators/officers during event enrollment), every memberwill know who his or her secret friend is and who wins the award of mostcreative gift and the like.

Another example of a group event that can foster better relationshipsand dynamic interactions among members is a Charity Cash-Clashcompetition to pool funds from members in a fun way to achieve betterdonation results and efficient donation event management. Members of agroup are being put into several teams and each team is assigned adigital container. Members can exchange digital coins and digital billsusing their HT Money or through online purchasing. Each team member'smission is to contribute digital pennies and one-dollar digital goldcoins (earn positive points) to the team's container and “sabotage” theother teams by adding digital silver coins and bills (earn negativepoints) to other teams' containers. The team with the highest positivepoints for its container wins and all donations collected from theentire group can be donated to a charity. Other group events that helpgroup members to foster deeper relationships were elaborated in patentapplication Ser. No. 12/154,241.

Referring to FIG. 17, therein is presented an exemplary illustration ofone embodiment of our invention to implement group and role-basedsecurity to our proposed online networking and e-commerce site. Asindicated, when a user sets up his HotTerrain account, he is presentedwith an option to invite others to join HotTerrain to earn additionaldigital money. The user can invite family members as shown at 1701 andthese individuals may have “Top Secret” permission to view the user'sHotTerrain account information (e.g., view the user's profileinformation and wish list) by default if they join HotTerrain. They areplaced in the user's inner circle by default, wherein individuals inthis circle have “Top Secret” permission.

The user can invite close friends to join HotTerrain as shown at 1702and these individuals may also have “Top Secret” view of the user'sHotTerrain account information by default if they join HotTerrain andare placed in the user's inner circle by default. The user can alsoinvite others, such as co-workers, acquaintances and community membersto join HotTerrain as sown at 1703 and these individuals may have“Secret” (e.g., view the user's partial profile and partial wish listinformation) and “Public” view (e.g., view the user's publicly availableinformation) of the user's HotTerrain account information by default ifthey join HotTerrain and are placed in the user's medium and outercircles by default, wherein individuals in the medium circle have“Secret” permission and individuals in the outer circle have “Public”permission. The group and role-based security also applies toindividuals on HotTerrain whom are invited by the user as hisconnections and vice versa. The user can change the default setting atany time by moving his invitees and inviters to different circles tochange their access authority to his information.

Once filling out the invitees' email addresses, the user can click on“Send Invite” button 1704 to send out the invitation. The systemperforms edit checks to find out whether some of these invitees havealready established accounts with HotTerrain and informs the useraccordingly. The system also enables the user to bring their addressbooks from other websites and present such email addresses to the userfor him to decide whom to invite. The user has the option of inputtingrelationships (e.g., father, mother, brother, close friend, co-worker,etc.) to have the system automatically place those individuals in theapplicable circles. If no relationship information is provided, thoseindividuals are placed in the users' outer circle and the user needs tomanually move them to the correct circles later on. As shown on FIG. 17,the user also has options of skipping the invitation step during hisregistration process by pressing link 1705 and inviting individualslater by clicking a “Invite Friends/Family” link inside his HotTerrainaccount.

With reference to FIG. 18, therein is depicted an exemplary illustrationof one embodiment of our invention to enable joint payment methods. Asillustrated on FIG. 7, user Mary Smith sends out joint fulfillmentrequest to her friends to fulfill her friend Linda's wish for a StoneMountain Capetown Shoulder Bag. Assuming the seller “Stone MountainInc.” accepts all payment methods, Mary's friend Jim Cleaner approvesMary's request and proceeds to pay his portion of HT2,000 by using hisHT Money; Similarly, Mary's friends Loraine Arsen and Tina Dai approvesher request and pays their portion by using credit card and PayPal. Thesystem automatically deducts their payment amount from the listed priceand shows the Remaining Balance at 1801. As indicated in 1802, Mary'sfriend Joe Blowe has not responded to her request and there are 11 daysleft to her request expiration date. Mary has options to send him areminder by clicking on the “Send Reminder” link, send him anauto-reminder through system configuration (e.g., send auto-reminder 7days before expiration) or cancel her request to Joe Blowe. She can thenrequest someone else to help or pay the remaining balance of $40 orHT4,000 by herself to fulfill Linda's wish. The system may display jointpurchasing individuals by the order of their descending payment amountto the beneficiary.

As for Mary's portion shown at 1803, she can pay it any time before theexpiration by clicking on the “Pay Now” link to select her preferredpayment method to pay. The system lists physical addresses collectedfrom Mary and her friends for Mary to select, such as Linda's address,Mary's address and her four friends addresses. Mary is responsible ofproviding the shipment address if it's not in the system. Some sellermay demand full payment of the item before shipment; others may allowearly shipment when certain amount of payment is collected to providebetter customer service. If the seller is an individual, the paymentmethods are normally restricted to HT Money and PayPal to protect thebuyer's sensitive information. Such joint payment methods on Wish Listsapplication or module also apply to joint purchasing on other HTapplications and modules, such as HT Market, HT Mall, etc.

Referring to FIG. 19, therein is presented an exemplary illustration ofone embodiment of our invention to enable users to acquire other users'free assets on HotTerrain for free. These free assets are items deletedby users on HotTerrain or their external items that they post toHotTerrain.com to be given away for free. As indicated, the Free Assetswebpage includes but is not limited to Free eStamps 1901, Free eItems1902 and Free Physical Items 1903. When users delete their HotTerrainemails with eStamps that are not “cut” or added to their Assets or whenusers delete certain eStamps in their Assets, these eStamps areautomatically transferred to Free Assets under the eStamps category forany HotTerrain member to pick up for free. As shown in 1901, a user whois collecting eStamps (which may have corresponding physical stamps) canselect multiple eStamps he is interested in and click on “Add to MyAssets” button in 1901 to add those eStamps deleted by others to hisAssets under e-Stamp folder.

Similarly, when users delete their eItems in HotTerrain.com, theseeItems are automatically transferred to Free Assets under the eItemscategory for any HotTerrain member to pickup. As shown in 1902, a userwho is collecting eItems (which may have corresponding physical items)can select multiple eItems he is interested in and click on “Add to MyAssets” button in 1902 to add those eItems deleted by others to hisAssets under e-Item folder. The system may be configured to limit thenumber of free eStamps and eItems one can pick up for a given timeframe.

Users can also give out their physical items for free by deleting theimage and information of them in their HotTerrain Assets application orby posting information about their external items on HotTerrain (e.g.,through clicking “Post Free Assets” tab 1905 to post). Once posted, theinformation of these physical items is shown on HotTerrain that isaccessible for all members to view, similar to what's depicted at 1903and 1904. For the free item shown at 1903, user “Ubidu” drops thephysical item at a local supermarket near him (assuming there iscooperation agreement between the supermarket and HotTerrain). Aninterested user can pick it up at the supermarket by providing hisHotTerrain UID and the item is added to his Assets (the benefit to thesupermarket is that the user may as well buy a few things while he is inthe store). The user can also click on “Arrange Pickup” to reserve theitem and to book a date for pickup. If he doesn't show up, thereservation is then canceled and the item is available for otherinterested members to pick up.

For the free item shown at 1904, user Steve Li still posses the Item. Aninterested individual can click on “Arrange Pickup” link to arrange aplace to pick it up or pay shipping fee for Steve to ship the item tohim. Once he pays the shipping fee, the item is automatically added tohis Assets. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the freeassets information shown on FIG. 19 may be displayed on separatewebpages.

Now, referring to FIG. 20, therein is depicted a high-level logicflowchart illustrating one embodiment of present invention to insertuser incentives to third party online advertisements. As indicated, theprocess starts at step 2000 and the system performs whatever it needs todo (e.g., insert a third party web site script to display third partyads, such as Google Ad Sense) to arrive at step 2001 whereby the systemdetermines date and time of the start of a day (e.g., 00:00:00 UTC) andthen resets the counter at step 2002. Next, the HotTerrain systemdetects a third party advertisement is clicked by a user, itautomatically increments the counter to count the click at step 2003.

Then, the system automatically adds a specified amount of digital money(e.g., HT1 per click) to the user's HT Money account as shown at step2004. A determination is then made as to whether at that point of time,the day has ended (e.g., passing 12:00 am) for the user's time zone. Ifyes, the process goes back to step 2001 to determine the new Date andtime, and then repeat the same steps of 2002 to 2004. If the day has notended for the user's time zone, the system makes another determinationas to whether the user has reached daily maximum clicks (e.g., 10 clicksper day) at step 2006. If yes, the system stops crediting that user's HTMoney account for his further clicks of third party advertisements onthat day. If he has not reached his daily maximum, the process goes backto step 2003 to continue to count his clicks on third partyadvertisements and deposit the associated HT Money to his HT moneyaccount. The process continued until the user reaches his daily maximumand the process ends at step 2007.

With reference to FIG. 21, therein is depicted an exemplary flow diagramdepicting one embodiment of our invention to enable other websites tointegrate HotTerrain programs to benefit from the unique methods andfunctions of the present invention. As indicated, the process starts atstep 2100, followed by a third party website inserting HotTerrainscripts into its source code as depicted at step 2101. Upon the thirdparty website completing such integration, HotTerrain system thenautomatically determine if some of the third party websites' users arealso HotTerrain users at step 2102. This is accomplished by: 1)comparing user email addresses maintain at both sides to identified thematching email addresses; or 2) user login information to their otherwebsite(s) provided by users to HotTerrain or vice versa so that systeminterfacing can occur between HotTerrain and other website(s) toidentify users with accounts on both websites. Once such users arefound, HotTerrain system automatically recalculates these users' HTScores by taking into account their activities on the third partywebsites, including but not limited to membership level, size ofcommunities, available advertising space, level of activeness and priorpurchasing activities on the third party websites.

The system then performs whatever it needs to do until its embeddedscripts detect a user signs into the third party website at step 2105. Adetermination is then made to identify whether the user has a HotTerrainaccount at step 2106. If yes, the scripts are executed to display theuser's HotTerrain Feeds and SponsorAds (see SponsorAds examples in 1101on FIG. 11) on the user's third party website pages at step 2107. Thesystem then allows the user to proceed to perform whatever he needs todo, including using various functionalities of HotTerrain through thelinks displayed on his third party web pages. Next, anotherdetermination is made to detect if another user sign in at step 2108. Ifyes, then the process goes back to step 2106. If there is no more usersigns into the third party website, the process ends at step 2114.

If a user signs in the third party website does not have a HotTerrainaccount at step 2106, the scripts are executed to display HotTerrainSponsorAds on the user's third party web site pages at step 2109. Thenthe system allows the user to perform whatever he needs to do until heclicks a SponsorAd at step 2110. Once the system detects a SponsorAd isclick by the user, it triggers SponsorAd at 2111 and display thedetailed SponsorAd contents (e.g., similar to 1003 and/or 1004 of FIG.10) to the user at step 2112. The display also contains links for theuser to create a HotTerrain account as depicted at step 2113 to enablethe user to benefit from HotTerrain system, such as earning digitalmoney, share in online advertising dollars, request/solicit sponsorship,fulfill wishes, and joint purchasing, etc. Next, the system allows theuser to perform whatever he needs to do (e.g. continue to use the thirdparty website and/or create a HotTerrain account to start using itsunique functions) and the process ends at step 2114.

Now, referring to FIG. 22, therein is depicted a high-level logicflowchart illustrating one embodiment of present invention for a user tomanage multiple external website accounts through HotTerrain.com. Asindicated, the process starts at step 2200, followed by the presentinvention system collecting users' external account logon information asdepicted at step 2201. Then, the system does whatever it needs to dountil it detects a user logs into the system at step 2202. TheHotTerrain system then automatically determines if the user had providedhis external accounts logon information to HotTerrain. If yes, thesystem detects the user clicks on one of his external account link onhis HotTerrain account as shown at step 2204. Upon such detection, thesystem automatically runs scripts to connect to the user's externalwebsite at step 2205, and then retrieve the user's external accountinformation at 2206. Next, the system displays the user's externalaccount data on the user's HotTerrain account as shown at step 2207.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that another embodimentof the present invention is to consolidate the user's multiple externalaccount information through HotTerrain.com so that the user can easilyview his external accounts at a centralized location on HotTerrain. Suchconsolidated information includes and is not limited to the user'smultiple email accounts, multiple hotel reward accounts, multipleairline mileage accounts, multiple gift card accounts, multiple backaccounts and multiple credit card accounts. And the user can accessthose external accounts to use their various functions directly fromHotTerrain without the need to log into those accounts.

Next, the system detects the user clicks on a point conversion link toconvert his external points (e.g., hotel reward points, airline mileagepoints, gift card points, etc.) into HotTerrain digital money or intopoints accepted by his external web site companies as shown at step2208. Once a click on the conversion link is detected, the systemcollects the users' point conversion instructions at step 2209, such asconvert hotel reward points to HT Money, convert one hotel's rewardpoints to another hotel's reward points, convert hotel reward points toairline mileage points, convert gift points to HT Money, hotel rewardpoints or airline mileage points, etc. Next, the system runs programs toexecute the user's specific instructions for his point conversion atstep 2210 and convert the users' points on external websites based onthe user's specific instructions at shown at step 2211. The system thendoes whatever it needs to perform and the process ends at step 2212.Also, going back to step 2203, if the user did not provide his externalaccount information to HotTerrain.com, the process of managing theuser's external accounts does not occur.

We claim:
 1. A computer implemented method, executable by a computersystem residing on at least one server and comprising all types of inputand output devices, for transforming non-group and non-role basedlogical access of a traditional social networking or e-commerce websiteinto a group-based and role-based access security mechanism toautomatically control access to data of an account or of a communityassociated with a user by at least one other account associated with atleast one other user, so as to protect user data privacy of said accountor community associated with said user, to increase online advertisingresults, to pool community resources, and to generate more onlinetraffic on a social networking and e-commerce website, wherein saidwebsite can be displayed on all display devices, including computers,laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, hand-held devices, and the like, saidmethod for (a) transforming non-group and non-role based logical accessof a traditional social networking or e-commerce website into agroup-based and role-based access security mechanism comprises the stepsof: providing functions by said computer system for said accountassociated with said user to select or input relationship information,such as father, mother, brother, close friends, co-workers, accountant,financial adviser, acquaintances, community members, and the like, forinviting or connecting with said at least one other account associatedwith at least one other user; providing functions by said computersystem for said account associated with said user to automatically placesaid at least one other account associated with at least one other userin family, friend, co-worker, acquaintance, community groups, and thelike default groups and to place said groups in inner circle, middlecircle, outer circle, and the like, wherein said circles are associatedwith different access rights to information or data residing in saidaccount or said community associated with said user; providing functionsby said computer system for said account associated with said user toautomatically grant more access rights to said at least one otheraccount or to all accounts of said at least one group residing in saidinner circle, and automatically grant decreasing access rights to saidat least one other account or to all accounts of at least one groupresiding in said middle, outer and other circles to view or arrange dataresiding in said account or said community associated with said user;and providing functions for said account associated with said user tomove said at least one other account or at least one group from onedefault circle to another to automatically change access rights of saidat least one other account associated with said at least one other useror all accounts residing in said at least one group; said method for (b)automatically controlling access to data of an account or of a communityassociated with a user comprises the steps of: providing functions forsaid account associated with said user to select a community to connector interact with all accounts residing in said community at one time, inaddition to the capability of selecting or inputting each accountassociated with each individual of said community for user controlleddata exchange connection or interaction; and providing functions for atleast one account associated with a community to set up a community fundfor said community, wherein member donation and transaction activitiesof said community to said community fund are viewable and transparent toall accounts associated with all members of said community.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said all input devices including keyboards,microphones, touch screens, mouse, or the like; and wherein providingfunctions by said computer system for said account associated with saiduser to select relationship information further comprises the steps of:automatically presenting external address books of said user to assignpre-defined relationships for selected accounts of said external addressbooks to join said social networking and e-commerce website; andallowing said account to select pre-configured relationships uponinputting external accounts to find said accounts on said socialnetworking and e-commerce website or for informing said externalaccounts to join said social networking and e-commerce website.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said at least one account associated with acommunity to set up a community fund further comprises: said at leastone account belongs to a user, administrator, officer, or committeemember of said community based on access rights; wherein said account iscapable of soliciting or requesting community fund donations fromaccounts associated with community members, entities and individuals;and wherein community member donations include but not limited todigital money of member accounts associated with community membersobtained through soliciting or requesting sponsorship from accountsassociated with entities or individuals on said social networking ande-commerce web site.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least oneaccount associated with a community to set up a community fund furthercomprises the steps of: providing functions for said at least oneaccount to select donation amount needed from all accounts or specificaccounts associated with said community and to input a message beforesending a community fund donation request; and providing functions forsaid member accounts associated with community members to press a“donate” button to donate the amount requested or to select an option todonate more, less or do nothing.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinoptions are provided for said community fund to be set up by a communityassociated with a charity organization or said community fundestablished by a non-charity organization or a group of individuals ispartially or entirely donated to at least one account associated with averified charity organization on said social networking and e-commercewebsite; and wherein said community fund of said non-charityorganization or said group of individuals if not donated to said accountassociated with said verified charity organization, is used to obtainonline games or events for member accounts associated with saidcommunity to participate, such as secret friends, charity cash-clashcompetition, and the like, to increase online traffic.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein online activities of said account associated with saiduser to select, input, place, or move relationship information, toconnect or interact with all accounts residing in said community, aswell as community fund activities of said accounts associated with saiduser and other users are automatically factored into user accumulatedscore calculation to change user accumulated scores of said accountsassociated with said user and other users on said social networking ande-commerce website, wherein said user accumulated scores are calculatedbased on online activity data associated with said user and other users,including but not limited to membership level, size of communities,available advertisement space, level of activeness, and level of priorpurchasing activities on said computer system, associated single sign-onweb applications and external computer applications.
 7. A systemresiding on at least one server for transforming non-group and non-rolebased logical access of a traditional social networking or e-commercewebsite into a group-based and role-based access security mechanism toautomatically control access to data of an account or of a communityassociated with a user by at least one other account associated with atleast one other user, so as to protect user data privacy of said accountor community associated with said user, to increase online advertisingresults, to pool community resources, and to generate more onlinetraffic on a social networking and e-commerce website, said systemfurther comprising: at least one processing unit; at least one inputdevice connected to said processing unit, wherein said input deviceincluding keyboard, microphone, touch screen, mouse, or the like; atleast one display device connected to said processing unit, wherein saiddisplay device including computer, laptop, netbook, mobile phone,hand-held devices, or the like; at least one database connected to saidprocessing unit; at least one communication link connected to theInternet; said processing unit, responsive to instructions from saidcomputer system and programmed to perform the following steps for (a)transforming non-group and non-role based logical access of atraditional social networking or e-commerce website into a group-basedand role-based access security mechanism: means for providing functionsby said computer system for said account associated with said user toselect or input relationship information, such as father, mother,brother, close friends, co-workers, accountant, financial adviser,acquaintances, community members, and the like, for inviting orconnecting with for said at least one other account associated with atleast one other user; means for providing functions by said computersystem for said account associated with said user to automatically placesaid at least one other account associated with at least one other userin family, friend, co-worker, acquaintance, community groups, and thelike default groups and to place said groups in inner circle, middlecircle, outer circle, and the like, wherein said circles are associatedwith different access rights to information or data residing in saidaccount or said community associated with said user; means for providingfunctions by said computer system for said account associated with saiduser to automatically grant more access rights to said at least oneother account or to all accounts of said at least one group residing insaid inner circle, and automatically grant decreasing access rights tosaid at least one other account or to all accounts of at least one groupresiding in said middle, outer and other circles to view or arrange dataresiding in said account or said community associated with said user;and means for providing functions for said account associated with saiduser to move said at least one other account or at least one group fromone default circle to another to automatically change access rights ofsaid at least one other account associated with said at least one otheruser or all accounts residing in said at least one group; saidprocessing unit, responsive to instructions from said computer systemand programmed to perform the following steps for (b) automaticallycontrolling access to data of an account or of a community associatedwith a user: means for providing functions for said account associatedwith said user to select a community to connect or interact with allaccounts residing in said community at one time, in addition to thecapability of selecting or inputting each account associated with eachindividual of said community for user controlled data exchangeconnection or interaction; and means for providing functions for atleast one account associated with a community to set up a community fundfor said community, wherein member donation and transaction activitiesof said community to said community fund are viewable and transparent toall accounts associated with all members of said community.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein said all input devices including keyboards,microphones, touch screens, mouse, or the like; and wherein means forproviding functions by said computer system for said account associatedwith said user to select relationship information further comprises thesteps of: means for automatically presenting external address books ofsaid user to assign pre-defined relationships for selected accounts ofsaid external address books to join said social networking ande-commerce website; and means for allowing said account to selectpre-configured relationships upon inputting external accounts to findsaid accounts on said social networking and e-commerce website or forinforming said external accounts to join said social networking ande-commerce website.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said at least oneaccount associated with a community to set up a community fund furthercomprises: said at least one account belongs to a user, administrator,officer, or committee member of said community based on access rights;wherein said account is capable of soliciting or requesting communityfund donations from accounts associated with community members, entitiesand individuals; and wherein community member donations include but notlimited to digital money of member accounts associated with communitymembers obtained through soliciting or requesting sponsorship fromaccounts associated with entities or individuals on said socialnetworking and e-commerce website.
 10. The system of claim 7, whereinsaid at least one account associated with a community to set up acommunity fund further comprises the steps of: means for enabling saidat least one account to select donation amount needed from all accountsor specific accounts associated with said community and to input amessage before sending a community fund donation request; and means forenabling said member accounts associated with community members to pressa “donate” button to donate the amount requested or to select an optionto donate more, less or do nothing.
 11. The system of claim 7, whereinoptions are provided for said community fund to be set up by a communityassociated with a charity organization or said community fundestablished by a non-charity organization or a group of individuals ispartially or entirely donated to at least one account associated with averified charity organization on said social networking and e-commercewebsite; and wherein said community fund of said non-charityorganization or said group of individuals if not donated to said accountassociated with said verified charity organization, is used to obtainonline games or events for member accounts associated with saidcommunity to participate, such as secret friends, charity cash-clashcompetition, and the like, to increase online traffic.
 12. The system ofclaim 7, wherein online activities of said account associated with saiduser to select, input, place, or move relationship information, toconnect or interact with all accounts residing in said community, aswell as community fund activities of said accounts associated with saiduser and other users are automatically factored into user accumulatedscore calculation to change user accumulated scores of said accountsassociated with said user and other users on said social networking ande-commerce website, wherein said user accumulated scores are calculatedbased on online activity data associated with said user and other users,including but not limited to membership level, size of communities,available advertisement space, level of activeness, and level of priorpurchasing activities on said computer system, associated single sign-onweb applications and external computer applications.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored on atleast one server and communicates with all types of input and outputdevices, for transforming non-group and non-role based logical access ofa traditional social networking or e-commerce website into a group-basedand role-based access security mechanism to automatically control accessto data of an account or of a community associated with a user by atleast one other account associated with at least one other user, so asto protect user data privacy of said account or community associatedwith said user, to increase online advertising results, to poolcommunity resources, and to generate more online traffic on a socialnetworking and e-commerce website, wherein said website can be displayedon all display devices, including computers, laptops, netbooks, mobilephones, hand-held devices, and the like, that when executed by at leastone processor, perform the following steps for (a) transformingnon-group and non-role based logical access of a traditional socialnetworking or e-commerce website into a group-based and role-basedaccess security mechanism: providing functions by said computer systemfor said account associated with said user to select or inputrelationship information, such as father, mother, brother, closefriends, co-workers, accountant, financial adviser, acquaintances,community members, and the like, for inviting or connecting with said atleast one other account associated with at least one other user;providing functions by said computer system for said account associatedwith said user to automatically place said at least one other accountassociated with at least one other user in family, friend, co-worker,acquaintance, community groups, and the like default groups and to placesaid groups in inner circle, middle circle, outer circle, and the like,wherein said circles are associated with different access rights toinformation or data residing in said account or said communityassociated with said user; providing functions by said computer systemfor said account associated with said user to automatically grant moreaccess rights to said at least one other account or to all accounts ofsaid at least one group residing in said inner circle, and automaticallygrant decreasing access rights to said at least one other account or toall accounts of at least one group residing in said middle, outer andother circles to view or arrange data residing in said account or saidcommunity associated with said user; and providing functions for saidaccount associated with said user to move said at least one otheraccount or at least one group from one default circle to another toautomatically change access rights of said at least one other accountassociated with said at least one other user or all accounts residing insaid at least one group; said non-transitory computer-readable mediumwith instructions, when executed by at least one processor, perform thefollowing steps for (b) automatically controlling access to data of anaccount or of a community associated with a user: providing functionsfor said account associated with said user to select a community toconnect or interact with all accounts residing in said community at onetime, in addition to the capability of selecting or inputting eachaccount associated with each individual of said community for connectionor interaction; and providing functions for at least one accountassociated with a community to set up a community fund for saidcommunity, wherein member donation and transaction activities of saidcommunity to said community fund are viewable and transparent to allaccounts associated with all members of said community.
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said all input devicesincluding keyboards, microphones, touch screens, mouse, or the like; andwherein providing functions by said computer system for said accountassociated with said user to select relationship information furthercomprises the steps of: automatically presenting external address booksof said user to assign pre-defined relationships for selected accountsof said external address books to join said social networking ande-commerce website; and allowing said account to select pre-configuredrelationships upon inputting external accounts to find said accounts onsaid social networking and e-commerce website or for informing saidexternal accounts to join said social networking and e-commerce website.15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said at least oneaccount associated with a community to set up a community fund furthercomprises: said at least one account belongs to a user, administrator,officer, or committee member of said community based on access rights;wherein said account is capable of soliciting or requesting communityfund donations from accounts associated with community members, entitiesand individuals; and wherein community member donations include but notlimited to digital money of member accounts associated with communitymembers obtained through soliciting or requesting sponsorship fromaccounts associated with entities or individuals on said socialnetworking and e-commerce website.
 16. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein said at least one account associated with a communityto set up a community fund further comprises the steps of: providingfunctions for said at least one account to select donation amount neededfrom all accounts or specific accounts associated with said communityand to input a message before sending a community fund donation request;and providing functions for said member accounts associated withcommunity members to press a “donate” button to donate the amountrequested or to select an option to donate more, less or do nothing. 17.The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein options are providedfor said community fund to be set up by a community associated with acharity organization or said community fund established by a non-charityorganization or a group of individuals is partially or entirely donatedto at least one account associated with a verified charity organizationon said social networking and e-commerce website; and wherein saidcommunity fund of said non-charity organization or said group ofindividuals if not donated to said account associated with said verifiedcharity organization, is used to obtain online games or events formember accounts associated with said community to participate, such assecret friends, charity cash-clash competition, and the like, toincrease online traffic.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein online activities of said account associated with said user toselect, input, place, or move relationship information, to connect orinteract with all accounts residing in said community, as well ascommunity fund activities of said accounts associated with said user andother users are automatically factored into user accumulated scorecalculation to change user accumulated scores of said accountsassociated with said user and other users on said social networking ande-commerce website, wherein said user accumulated scores are calculatedbased on online activity data associated with said user and other users,including but not limited to membership level, size of communities,available advertisement space, level of activeness, and level of priorpurchasing activities on said computer system, associated single sign-onweb applications and external computer applications.